Soft-sided luggage cases have gained considerable popularity with travelers as an alternative to using the more traditional hard-sided luggage cases to pack and transport their clothing and personal care items while traveling. Many travelers prefer the style and convenience of use which is attained by sewing the relatively flexible cloth or material-like panels together to create soft-sided luggage. From a stylistic standpoint, the appeal of soft-sided luggage results from the distinctive appearance created by the sewing, by the beads where panels join together, by zippers for connecting components together and by the distinctive colors and patterns which may be created from the flexible panels of material. From a utilitarian standpoint, soft-sided luggage provides more convenient access to pockets and the interior of the case, and is generally lighter in weight. These functional features, when combined with some amount of flexibility, result in a luggage case that is convenient to use and more easily handled than hard-sided luggage.
Examples of soft-sided luggage include garment bags, duffle bags, roll bags, small flight cases, carpet bags and large rectangularly shaped suitcase or Pullman cases. Some soft-sided luggage such as duffle bags and roll bags are formed entirely by sewing or connecting the flexible panels together. However, most of the larger sized soft-sided luggage cases, such as garment bags and rectangular suitcase-like cases, require some type of internal structural to give shape to the case and to allow the case to obtain its intended functionality. The internal structural typically involves the use plastic stiffeners, wires and semi-rigid members which are sewn, attached or otherwise assembled with the panels when the case or bag is manufactured.
One of the important functions of the stiffeners and internal structural elements in some of the larger soft-sided luggage cases, such as the rectangularly shaped suitcases and garment bags, is to provide an ability for the case itself to retain a relatively large amount of weight without deforming unacceptably. The internal structural elements are frequently required to support the weight of the items within the case and to allow the case and its weight to be carried by a carrying handle or the shoulder strap. In addition, recent trends in soft-sided luggage have included using roller wheels and maneuvering handles to allow the larger cases to be transported more easily. In order for the wheels and the maneuvering handles to achieve adequate functionality, more rigid internal elements must be incorporated within the soft-sided cases.
Because of the requirements that the case be carried by the carrying handle or by the shoulder strap located along the top panel, and the requirement that some soft-sided cases incorporate wheels and a maneuvering handle, it is typical that the soft-sided cases are built with a drum construction. The drum construction generally provides a relatively stiff and weight-supporting peripheral frame structure which extends around the top, bottom and end panels of the case, thereby providing a vertically oriented, rectangularly shaped, closed frame structure when viewed from the perspective of the case being carried by the carrying handle or by a shoulder strap on the top panel. Large flexible panels of material extend across the opening of the internal rectangular frame structure somewhat as a drum membrane extends across the opening defined by the periphery of a drum. The internal rectangular frame structure allows the carrying handle or the shoulder strap attachment points to be adequately connected to the case so it can be carried with substantially deforming, and provides a structure capable of supporting the weight of the internal contents of the case. Furthermore, the rectangular peripheral structure provides attachment points for the wheels at the bottom panel, and allows the maneuvering handle to attach to the peripheral frame structure to assure adequate control over the luggage case.
Access to the interior of the case is typically provided by a zippered flap in one of the external face panels. Opening the zipper allows the flap to fold back and provide access for packing and unpacking the interior cavity of the case. Generally, packing is accomplished by placing the case on its bottom exterior face panel while the zippered flap in the upper exterior face panel is folded back.
One of the inconveniences associated with the drum-type soft-sided luggage construction is that the entire internal cavity of the case must be packed and unpacked from the single access flap opening in the upper exterior face panel. Every piece of clothing or personal item packed into the internal cavity rests on the clothing or personal items below it. Packing must be done in a sequential order, and the placement of items within the interior must be thought out carefully to avoid excessive wrinkling of clothing items and to provide adequate access to all of the items within the internal cavity. If the traveler elects not to unpack the luggage case at the traveler's destination, it can be difficult to search through the entire contents of the case to locate a desired clothing or personal item.
The traditional hard-sided suitcase, which is formed by two concave rigid shells which are hinged together, is more convenient for packing and unpacking than a soft-sided case using the drum construction. The hard-sided suitcase provides essentially two separate packing compartments formed by the concave interior of each shell. Because of the hinged construction, each shell is fully exposed when the suitcase is unfolded in a horizontal position. Thus, packing, searching and unpacking clothing from the hard-sided suitcase is more convenient because the two packing compartments are essentially separate and access to each is totally independent of the other.
The advantages of independent access and equal division of the entire packing capacity of a hard-sided suitcase have not been available in soft-sided luggage cases because of the inherent requirements for the internal peripheral frame in drum constructed soft-sided luggage. Further, the strength of drum type construction is necessary to carry the case by the carrying handle or shoulder strap, and also possibly to maneuver the case on its wheels. It is impractical or impossible to split the frame structure into two separable portions and have them pivot with respect to one another because of the additional need for maximum strength available from relatively flexible and less rigid structural materials.
Thus, the packing, unpacking and other disadvantages associated with a single access flap into the complete internal cavity within a drum constructed soft-sided luggage case have been accepted by travelers.
It is with respect to these background considerations associated with soft-sided luggage that the present invention has evolved.